Automatic volume control system



Feb. 28, 1950 A. DE RosA AUTOMATIC VOLUME CONTROL SYSTEM 2 Shee'tS-Sheerl l Filed Feb. 9, 1946 INVENTOR.v 0l/AS A olf/P0514 Feb. 28, 1950 L.. A. DE ROSA AUTOMATIC VOLUME CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Feb. 9, 194e 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

OU/5' A. 7L-'P064 A TTORNEY Patented Feb. 28, 1950 AUTOMATIC VOLUME CONTROL SYSTEM Louis A. de Rosa, Bloomfield, N. J., assignor to Federal Telephone and Radio Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation' of Delaware Application February 9, 1946, serial No. 646,694.`

(o1. 25o-2o) 7 Claims.

This invention relates to automatic volume control systems, particularly for use in connection with radio receivers.

It has been found that automatic volume control systems of conventional design do not operate satisfactorily with sharp pulses as for example, pulses used in pulse communication systems or in radar.

An object of the present'l invention is the provision of an improved automatic volume control system.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved volume control system which is particularly adapted for automatic volume control of pulse signals.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improved automatic volume control system which may be used for the control of sinusoidally modulated energy as well as for the control of energy in pulse form.

While my invention itself is defined in the appended claims, the invention, together with other and further objects and features thereof, will be best understood from the following description of embodiments thereof, reference being had to the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic and block diagram of a receiver including an automatic volume control system embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic and block` diagram of a modification of the system illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a schematic and block diagram of another modification of the system of Fig. 1, particularly adapted for the reception of pulses havy In accordance with an important feature ofI the present invention I derive from the incoming signal (as for example from the output of the receiver) pairs of pulses whose amplitudes vary with the amplitude of the incoming vsignal and the gain of the receiver. These pairs of pulses are passed through a threshold device (such as a clipper) which normally permits the tips of these pulses to pass. These passed tips or passed pulses are applied to a multi-vibrator having two states or levels of stability. The first passed pulse of each pair trips the multivibrator from its iirst level to a second level, and the second passed pulse trips the multi-vibrator back again toits original or iirst level. The output of the multi-y vibrator is under these conditions in the form of rectangular pulses. The total energy Content of the rectangular'pulsesis used to control the gain of the receiver, as for example by applying said rectangular pulses to an integrating device which may include a condenser charged by said rectangular pulses, the resultant voltage across said condenser being applied to control the bias of selected tubes in the receiver to control the gain of the receiver. Y

Normally, that is Whenever the amplitude 0f the Output of the receiver is at or above a predetermined level, both pulses of each pair pass through the threshold device and trip the multivibrator from its first level to its second level and immediately back again to its original level. The resultant rectangular pulses thus produced have relatively small energy cont-ent so that the conl denser at the output of the multi-vibrator is charged so slightly by each of said rectangular pulses that the voltage thereby producedl across the condenser is negligible and the gain of the receiver is substantially unaffected. The condenser is arranged in a discharge circuit whose rate is such that the increment of charge on said condenser due to the successive rectangular pulses is preferablyl less than the amount of charge disfor example to fading of the signal) only one` pulse (for example, the first pulse) of each pair passes through the threshold device while the second pulse is unable to do so. This may be -accomplished by various means, such as for ex-` ample having the level of the threshold device with respect to the rstpulse of each pair lower than with respect to the second pulse of each pair so that when the amplitude of both pulses of each -pair falls, said iirst pulse will still be able to pass over its relatively low threshold while said 4 second pulse will not be able to pass over its relatively high threshold. Another way of accomplishing thisis to change the relative amplitude of the said first and second pulses beforethey are transmitted to the threshold device. Whatever technique is used, when the signal fades, only the iirst pulse will pass through the threshold device. The rst passed pulse of each pair trips the multi-Vibrator from its first level of stability to its second level. Since there is no passed second pulse of each pair to trip the multi-vibrator back to its originalstate, it remains at the second level, Succeedingiirst passed pulses of each pair do not trip the multi-vibrator back to its first level due to the Way in which they are fed to the multi-vibrator. Accordingly, the multi-vibrator 3 4 continues to remain at its second level of stability and for this purpose, pulse 9a is fed through a and feeds a very long. pulse (or D. C. energy for a phase inverter Iii, which inverts pulse 9a to prolong time), charging the condenser to progresduce the pulse shown at 9b. Pulse 3a is applied sively higher levels. As the charging of the conto the grid of a tube I5 in multi-vibrator I3, denser continues the Voltage thereacross increases 5 while pulse 9b is applied to the grid of the secand this increasing voltage increases the gain 0f ond tube I6 in multi-vibrator I3. Thus pulse 8a the receivers The increasing gain of, ther receiver trips dthe,multieyibrator ,I y.and .pulse 9b, trips it iinally becomesso great that both pulsesl of each the" I,second tirne ba'ck to its original .-state;v The pair derived from the receiver have achieved suiiioutput of multi-vibrator I3 is therefor a reccient amplitude to pass the threshold devicemloutangular Wave form pulse such as illustrated at When the first of the second pulses of a pair I'I, which is applied to a suitable integrating depasses the threshold device, -it "trips `vthe'rrnulti'l.M vicef-Whic-hlmay-be-, lfo'r example, a low pass iilter vibrator back to its first'or .originallevelaf This... I8,f-incl11dinga condenser I9, which condenser IS temporarily halts the charging:ofethefcondenser:y is -Ycha'rgelzlfabyf:,the.rectangular pulses II. The and permits it to begin discharging-,through 'its'n v`condenseitnlMismonnected to the receiver and discharge circuit. Since thev rate, of discharge is;- dschargesitself through a resistor 20 therein, preferably somewhat greate'nthan A'the rate'at"""A Vwhichniaybeoneoremore of the grid resistors. which the condenser is being charged by tl'ie'relaefsv Thetcondenser I9 normally discharges through tively small rectangularfpulses produced in the resistor or resistors 20 to 'ground at a rate which output of ythe I-multi-iv-ibraterbetween;a first and, 20 is .sumewhatgreater thanlthe.,ratetatwhichdnf secondspassed-pulse'cfr-a pain; the voltag,across-l.V crernents of;chargefareapplied.to .the .;condensel:. the=condenser-will=slowly-decreaseivthereby causavv I9 `due to rectangular pulsesJ'Ifr That ,.iswtlief.: ingthewgain-of the receiver-tosdecreaseuntil both,... foregoing is true under conditions r.,vvhen.. both pulses of the pairscannolongerpass,the threshe4 pulses- 8 landpass throughthe slippen,sepae..-y old/device, vwhereupon the multi-,vibrator.isagain .25 rator circuit E01., v tripped-.by only .the `Iirst---pulseandrecharges the., ReferringtoFigJfi, inwhich the pairs ofpulses condenser to once morebring up the gainofthe- 8 and '9 appear, the lines 2l "and 2Zindicate thee receiver.V Thus, 1 the-automatic volume .control clippingflevels..,.ofntlde Vclipper separatorrcircuit systemmontinues to fhunt. fora given, amplitudei Illfor.,.pulses,8 and 9 respectively. ,Theclippingz.. levelv; The foregoing willrperhapsbeclearer .fronLU 'level 2I`is' nearer the central axis than the,clip,f,. theLfollowingdescription.;. pingnleveldZZr Thus,.as the.incomingnsignals Referring now ,tolFigg1,.anautomaticvolume.. fade.,andthe,pulses.,8v andlS vdiminishas; shown at,h control systemfembo'dying my A.inventiorris :il1usf point., 23,'llonlyi,the` positive pulsef yWilLpassuthef` trated in combination withareceiver.ofv thetypa Ythreshold While the negative pulses ."atfDOint 23.". adapted to receive energy-:modulatedother.than. 30 Will.no.t.,., Consequently.ins,teadlofehavingg.small byffpulsesffas Lfor..exarr-1p1f e, sinusoidalmodulated-.. rectangula'npulse-.I'Ifatrthwoutput,of the.,mult,.

caarierfvvaves. 21 The arrangement-there illustrated., vibrator` I 3f.as.indicatedin. ,curve :411,1 Fig..,r4,thes includes an--lantennaa ori-Whichzthe incoming eneg. pulse .24A thus .produced is .o relatively long. ydura-r ergy= is picked up,'wh-ich.leads\to A.a receiver and (ie-.-v tio'n and chargesnm condensLenI 9. '(Fi`g...1)sand modulatorfZ, Whose'foutput iszin substantially.:sieA 0 causes the yoltagegthereacross .to,..risethis.rising nusoidalWave-formas indicated at,3..` The output voltage l`=being.11sed..t0r.biasthe .tubes.,..in.th Cree. of" receiver-f2 is ffedftoua "clipper l11,.whieh clips... ceiveridemodulato'rl .toincreasethe.gaineoisaid each of Wave-forms fat a levelffgenerally desige, receiver .so fthatggradually despite/themiading of nated by-the numeralwS tofproducerpulsesw: The.; the signal the gainincreases,totthepointwhere amplitudes.'-ofjpulses---f Waryfinzwaccordance.with'..45 the signal at the output oi thefreceivenandfthel thend amplitude of l :thee sinusoidal wave-forms@` 3. pulses ederived, therefrom, arev ,again restored to Thewpuls'es.- 6 .'are-dilerentiated inra diiTerenti-.. anlamplitludeaas. indicated at,. .poini',.,`25.fatffvvhlch. atorl tofeachproduce twoyfsharp pulsesAB and 9, f. the negativepulse:aganwwillpassethe.threshold,

8beingf-positivefand- 9 beingznegativew The pain. andltripgthe:multieyibiator...I3.'backt0rits rst ofepulsesr `and/:1.9, which@varenderived.,fromgthelel) 0r .original 1eVe1... v output' of.v receiver 2 are ,fedntoi-a clipper.v sepa-l The noutput.oreceivlerrand.'dernodulator 2.in rator -Iwhich-.issetfat-a predetermined---levelso.. addition to-.being fed .thlughihe automatic .volthatlit-.willl'normallyzpass'only the tip zof.. pulse .9 ume control:arrangemenamay.bealsoiedtoanyf andgaflittle more of puise-, The., clipper-J llalso suitable. utilizationdevice,.26., Which-gniaybe,.fonn servesztofseparate-fpulses and@ so that ,theloutfxf examplalOl-1d*Speakelaanlindcatr.eta

put .oi".clip.per7l Illlhasetwof'separatez'channelssl I. 7 Iliig. 2,.th`er,eisjllustratedga:system io'rinses: and- I 2,. Fonthisz-rpurposeg-fthezfaclipper .-.I Ila-mayl with signalsv that are in the form of pulses iThese.; besef anycoventional type-esuchlasfor example@ Sgnalsfare pickedmllp :0n -antenna-.fl land 'fed asdoublesdiodelclippenfin: which each,V of .the *die thughf .receiver and demodulatorl,ithe...output.l

odes..passes pulsesz-of;oppositefapolarity.f Pulse you ofifreceiver... ,and-demodu1ator....2 being then,-fed appears fin. theou-tputifoffclipperafl alongsch'ana through .three channe1s..2`l,2 8.,and 29; f ,Thepulsem nel-ll :as a :positiver pulse/fsaf-which :is .greater-1in., outputofreceiver,.which rrwmcc risistora-pulse.- a'fnplude,.1j,h .a,]gl1 negajlfgjhye;.fpulsg,.9@Nappeanfingl inl: train,nC111dng-pu1SE3S--3, 3 WG'JCLS .fed in Chalnllels. channel 51h-Which'. isafderivedtfrom :pulsed The,. 23150 a p-ID ycircuit/1.32.11The `output oicircuit`A pulsesf'derive'd .froml iclipperfl [I @may be used .130455 32is.fed.to two gatesandldarrangedimchana. controlfa multi-vibrator `I3thavingf-two"levelsl of 11815-21M129.IQSIJSCVSIBLA .The-illrfloil.CilClliSv` stability Thislmazy bei-an Eccles-Jordanztype of. alrnately renders. galeSaSSl-farld ai!!COnductilv'e^ multi-.vibratom Whilepositive pulsea .maysbex and .each succeedingspuls'e aCtu2teS,the lipsopq empleyedioltrigger.-the-.multievibrator from its` circuitlto reversej.theconductivityf. beth cir.=., rstievelof,,stability,to= itssecond :level off-staf. To ,cuitslr For.,.exa,mple, pulse 3li,.causes;,the,.li1i-iiop bility and negative pulse; A9a:be;-,applied=:.to the circuit "toMoperatefsooasnto rendergatect com.. same point. to..trigge,r;=themultievibratoruback to. dli'ctive Whilevv the Anext ^pulse,.yvhic'hliis.pulsesli itsforiginal l.levelr-of stability'jit. is. preferredtooperating. on a .,ipfp circuit g3 2,'.causes. saidapply ,these-pulses-- to` .diierent .points.A Accord-v.l circuit. ..to render...its2.gate34` `.conductive..whi1.. ngly, it becomes desirable to invert pulse 9a gate 33 becomes non-conductive. Accordingly,

maar

pulse aofwhlh actuaires mpnop circuit s2, will pass through the open gate 34 to produce, in the output thereof pulse 30a. `Butjsaid pulse 30, y

causes iiip-llo'p circuit to close gate 34 and open gate '33, the succeeding pulse 3| will then pass through gate 33to produce an output'pulse 3Ia. Gates 33 and 34 may also each include a clipper,

which clipper serves as a threshold device and normallyallovvs thetips of pulses 30 andv 3| to pass therethrough, as was described, for example,

in connection with the clipper III of Fig. 1. The y clipper of gate 34 may also be adjusted to a lower' `level than that of the clipper of gate 33 so that vthe output pulse 30a will be larger than the output ila.v Ihe output of gates 33 and 34 is then fed to multi-vibrator I3 whoseoutput is fed to the pulses are received in pairs in which each pulse e varies in amplitude oppositely, that is, ifv the rst l pulse of the pair starts with a large amplitude and diminishes to zero amplitude, the second pulse of the pair starts with a very low amplitude such as zero amplitude and increases to a large amplitude.

Thisv is illustratedr in Fig.v5, 5a, where the first pulse 35 of the pair of pulses including 35 and3lA starts with large amplitude and diminishes While,A

the second pulse 36 starts with ylovv amplitude and increases. These pulse pairs are repeated in the incoming Wave train. In the output of the receiver and demodulator, the pulses 35 and 36 take the form shown in curve 5B as pulses 35a and 36a. Which are sawtooth pulses in which the leading edge of 35a and the trailing edge of 36a are steep. Referring now to Fig. 3, pulses 35a and 36a are fed to the differentiator 'I and differentiated to produce pulses 35h and 36h, illustrated in curve 5C, Fig. 5. In the clipper and separator circuit I0 of Fig. 3, pulses 35h and 36h are clipped at levels 3l and 38 respectively, level 31 being closer to the axis than level 38 so that the passed portion of pulse 35h is larger than the passed portion of pulse 36h. The output of clipper separator I0 is operated as described in Fig. 1 to control multi-vibrator I3 and through iilter I8 control the gain of receiver 2.

While I have described the details of various systems embodying my invention, it Will be apparent that numerous changes may be made in these details. For example the system of Fig. l may also be used for pulse transmission Where the pulses are not too sharp in terms of the parameters of the differentiator. These pulses would be clipped and differentiated like the sinusoidal energy, and the differentiated output used to control the gain in the manner described in connection with Fig. 1. Furthermore, While I have shown numerous other details in particular-ity, it will be apparent that changes in these may likewise be made. For example, instead of feeding positive pulses to the separate grids of the tube of the multi-vibrator I3, the control of the multi-vibrator I3 may be eected by feeding a positive pulse to the grid of one tube and a negative pulse to the same grid of the same tube, thus causing the circuit to move between its tvvo levels of stability. Numerous other changes will occur from the foregoing description to those versed in the art.

Accordingly, While I have described above the principles of my invention in connection with specic apparatus, and particular modifications 6 thereo'f, it'ls to be clearly understood that this descriptionv is'made only by way of example and notl as a limitation onthe scope of my invention.

Iclaimj l. A radio received for the reception of sinusoidally modulated energy, and an automatic volume control system therefor comprising means for -vderiving fromA the output of said receiver a pair of pulses whose amplitudes vary in accordance with the amplitude of said output, a clipper vseparatorcircuit adapted to separate the pulses and pass them when said pulses are above a predeter'mined'level, and to pass' only the first pulse `of said pair of pulses when the amplitude of said pulses v'falls below said predetermined level, a multi-vibrator responsive to the passed 2. A radiojreceiver and an' automatic volurne control system therefor comprising means pair of pulses varying in amplitude in accordance with the variations of amplitude of the output of the receiver, means controlled bythe reception of theiirst pulse of lsaid pair of pulses for initiating the producing ofv a control voltage, means controlledby the second pulse of said pair vor" pulses having an'arnplitude above a given level, -for terminating the producing of said control voltage, and means for applying said control voltage to said receiver to control the gain thereof.

3. A radio receiver for substantially sinusoidal- 1y modulated energy and an automatic volume control system therefor comprising means for deriving from the sinusoidal output of said receiver a rectangular wave-form whose amplitude varies in accordance with the amplitude of said sinusoidal output, a dierentiator, means for applying said retangular wave-form to said differentiator to produce a pair of sharp pulses, a clipper circuit coupled to the output of said differentiator adapted to clip the pulses of said pair each at a dierent level, and a multi-vibrator coupled to the output of said clipper, said multivibrator having two levels of stability between which it is tripped by said pair of pulses when both pulses pass the clipper circuit, a low pass filter connected to the output of said multivibrator adapted to integrate the output therelow pass filter to said receiver to control the gain thereof.

4. A radio pulse receiver and an automatic volume control system therefor comprising means so for separating the output pulses of said receiver,

a multivibrator having two levels of stability,

means for -applying the separated pulses to control sepanately the two levels of said multi-vibrator, a low pass filter coupled to the output of c5 said multi-vibrator for producing a control voltage determined by the length of time the multivibrator remains at one of its levels of stability, and means for applying said control voltage to the receiver to control the gain thereof.

5. A radio receiver for energy carrying sawtooth modulation, and an automatic volume control system therefor comprising a diierentiator coupled to the output of said receiver for producing sharp pulses at the steep edge of each of said saw-tooth pulses, means coupled to the iorf'der'iving fromv the outputof the receiver a Y from, and means for applying the output of saidv 

